Barcelona will target a different result from the one at the weekend when they play Espanyol in the first leg last 16 of the Copa Del Rey

January 6, 2016 16:57 IST

After enduring a frustrating evening against Espanyol in La Liga, Barcelona will hope for a lot more joy when they host their local rivals in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey last 16.

Barcelona hit the woodwork, huffed and puffed and did everything they could to try and blow the Espanyol house down, but to little effect, with the match on Saturday ending in a 0-0 draw.

Now, with a quarterfinal place at stake, Barca will want to take a big lead into the second leg with an authoritative first leg victory at the Camp Nou.

"We shall play as if there is no second leg," Barcelona manager Luis Enrique said. "My players are perfectly motivated for this clash. "We played a great game at their ground. We created six or seven very clear goalscoring chances that could have won us the match.

"But that doesn't mean that there weren't a lot of things that we need to improve, and in fact we will try to do just that."

There will be plenty of attention from a Barcelona point of view in this match, mainly because Enrique has named Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal in the squad. Turan and Vidal have not been able to feature for Barcelona so far this season, despite signing in the summer, owing to the transfer ban. However, with the embargo now lifted, the two players are free to make their debuts for the club.

Enrique hinted at starting both players on Wednesday. "Both of them will get the chance to wear the Barca shirt and play a part in the match," the Spaniard added. "We have GPS data from their training sessions that shows that they are perfectly capable of playing the full 90 minutes."

Espanyol will look to the same tactics and grit that earned them a point at the weekend, but they will also know this last 16 clash is likely to be an entirely different contest, with Barcelona playing at the Camp Nou.

"It will be an even more difficult game," Espanyol manager Constantin Galca said. "FC Barcelona will be more dangerous in this game, with a desire to score and win. We are up against the best team in the world and their players will want to win for reasons of pride."